Archive

The Lips Brothers, Moritz and Oliver, are a creative duo based in Zurich, Switzerland | Photography, Film & Art Direction

Archive

Evolving is always a good thing. After several years of "traditional" blogging, we wanted to refocus and put more time and effort into our photography and projects. You will only find selected shootings from the past in our Stories.

All of the previous articles we've written are now here in our archive.

Dubrovnik Travel Diary

Photography by Moritz Lips. Written by Oliver Lips.

At the end of August, Moritz, our childhood-friend Julian (with whom we had previously traveled through New Zealand) and I left for Dubrovnik for a week of well-deserved holidays. Via Airbnb we had booked an apartment in Lapad, a bit outside the old town, with a gorgeous view over the bay. In the morning we would walk down to the waterfront and take a dip in the crystal clear water. In Europe I have rarely seen such beautiful water, as there is no sand and all beaches are stony.

We just wanted a week where we didn't have to work or shoot for anyone. Still we wanted to share with you some impressions of our trip to Dubrovnik, as we think Croatia is still a bit of an insider tip.

The old town of Dubrovnik is truly stunning. It is still surrounded by a city wall, on which you can walk all the way around and have some of the most breath-taking views. But make no mistake, you will never be alone on the wall or in the old town in general. As the old town is really small cruise ship passengers regularly flood the city. Still most of the buildings are intact and you get a sense of how life must've been centuries ago.

I only knew Dubrovnik from the HBO series «Game of Thrones» and though they green-screened a great deal of it for the series there still is a high resemblance to King's Landing.

Since we had an apartment we would frequently cook at home and dine on the terrace, but on one of the evenings we went out to the old town we had drinks at the Mala Buža Bar just outside the city walls. Delicious drinks, good music, a stunning view of the sea while the sun sets - need I say more? After drinks we went to the Paparazzo Steak House, not far from the bar actually, that served tender steaks in a beautiful atmosphere.

A restaurant we unfortunately didn't get to check out is Lady Pi-Pi. While walking on the city walls we had discovered it as the smell of their stone-grill had made our mouths water. The restaurant only has a hand full of tables on a rooftop, covered by a leafy canopy. Perhaps you'll get the chance to go there and tell me how it was?

Dubrovnik and the surrounding areas are really filled with amazing beaches. As I previously said there are only stony waterfronts, but a lot of times they would even out with cement so you can lay down and build stairs that lead into the water. There are some beautiful places in Lapad Bay that are perfect for swimming. We also discovered another great swimming place called «Club Boninovo» that you'll find on the coastline along Ulica branitelja Dubrovnika. Be aware though that there is only a certain area that is reserved for tourists, the rest is for locals or club-members. Another great bathing place is the Danče beach. It's probably one of the bigger ones, but filled with locals (always a good sign). A beach I really wouldn't recommend though is Copacabana as it's really touristy and loud.

Since our apartment was in the Lapad area we didn't always feel like going in to the old town, which is 10 minutes by bus or UBER (if you share an UBER it's about the same price), and frequently ate at our apartment. On the evening of our arrival though we went to the Atlantic Kitchen, which was all about delicious Mediterranean (sea)food.
A great place for pre or after dinner drinks is the Cave Bar of the Hotel More. It's like a set from a James Bond movie. The bar is inside a cave and when you walk out of it you'll end up right by the water with a relaxing lounge area.

On our last day in Dubrovnik we didn't really feel like doing much, so we went to the Coral Beach Club. The water area is really great - you have a gorgeous view of the opposite coastline and will witness a beautiful sunset. The service was really friendly and you will find a great selection of dishes and refreshing drinks and cocktails.